Field of the Invention
Embodiments generally relate to a mount for an illumination device.
Description of the Related Art
Currently, military units, law enforcement agencies, civil services, and civilians use flashlights to provide illumination, e.g., to identify themselves or injured personnel, hazardous areas, and/or other objects or places of interest. Often, these flashlights are weapon or firearm mounted via some form of a mechanical bracket. Most weapon-mounted flashlights require that the end user purchase a flashlight and then a mounting bracket separately in order to mount the flashlight to a standard rail system such as a M1913 Picatinny Rail system. The Picatinny rail or MIL-STD-1913 rail is a bracket used on some firearms in order to provide a standardized mounting platform to the firearm. All of these flashlight mounting brackets require a cylindrical tube shape that must surround the flashlight body in order to securely grab the flashlight, and then the mounting bracket is secured to the M1913 Picatinny Rail System.
Because traditional flashlight mounting brackets require a cylindrical tube shape that must surround the flashlight body in order to securely grab the flashlight (and then the mounting bracket is secured to a rail system such as the M1913 Picatinny Rail System), it is desirable to reshape the traditional flashlight to a form that can serve the purpose of a flashlight body and a mounting bracket to advantageously bring the functionality of both devices into one, thereby reducing material and weight and simplifying the entire assembly altogether. Additionally, there is a need for a device and method which allows the flashlight to be easily moved and secured into a much closer position along the center axis of the weapon (a low profile position) if desired.
With respect to a helmet, typically, mounting a cylindrical flashlight to a curved helmet would be done in a linear fashion, which means that the light would be fastened to the side of the helmet; therefore, it would only project light directly ahead. This method is not necessarily effective for closer proximity task lighting. Additionally, projecting light straight out from the side of the helmet causes the user to turn his or her head towards the task at hand and then turn his or her eyes to meet the linear projection of light, which after a couple of minutes causes undue stress on the user's neck and eyes. There is a need for a device and method for mounting a flashlight to a helmet which allows the user to easily point the flashlight mounted to the helmet exactly where the task at hand is taking place.